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Sorrento, Italy
40° 36' N 14° 22' E
May 14, 2007 16:07
Distance 805km

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Other entries in Sorrento

oh my G!

Text written in: English (US)

how in hell did that guy circle the world in 80 days, is what i would like to know. Or maybe my question should be whay it took me 33 hours to travel from greece to italy?!?!?

i ended up staying only one night in nafplio after all, and in the morning - wow was that a confusing morning, this is what happened:

08:00 i woke up and packed.

09:00 i found out my bus to corinth leaves at 11, and found a person who knows both greek and english so he could write a note for me to give to the bus driver that said "tell me when we get to the stop next to the train station". then i went to the travel agency to get my ticket for patra (greece)-bari (italy). they sent me to travel agency number because they don't deal with this ferry. travel agency number 2 didn't have internet so they said to come back in an hour. now it was allready 09:30 and my pack was still in my room, about 1km from town. so i had breakfast. 10:10 i finished breakfast and decided to get my pack. i could still get the ticket at the port and worst case scenario i can stay in patra for the night, but if i miss my bus i miss the whole day. so i walked very very very quickly to my hotel and very quickly back, carrying my pack that is huge and full and heavy while the sun is high and apparently hot. (why wasn't it that hot when i was at the beach?!?) i got back at 10:40, i went to travel agency number one that was closer and asked them to call and see if they had internet yet. they said they did so i left my pack there and ran down the street, past the school and around the corner. now i am sweating out my bones, and i get there and she starts telling me the prices for different tickets. i ask for the prices after the 40% discount i have from my eurorail pass and she tries to do it, then gets her maneger. then they get a higher manager (i look at my watch-10:50!), and then she calls them and apparently to get the discount i have to do it in the main offices at the port in patra. (oh, thanks for that huge waste of time and energy), so i run out and get my pack from agency number 1 and run to the bus station and get my ticket and then get on the bus.

11:00 i get on the bus and give the driver my previously prepared note. he doesn't know a word of english. with a series of hand and head gestures he tells me that he has no clue where this is but he will find out. he gets of the bus. we all wait for 10 minuets. now he comes back, i show him the note and gesture "ok? you know where it is?" he gestures "oh, yeh, i forgot about that. hmmm..." and asks some other guy. they point at me, point at the note and then point around some more. they speek very quickly in greek and i hope they know what i'm asking. then we leave.

12:00 a girl gets on the bus and sits next to me. she is local and promises to tell me when we get to my stop. i am, permanently, happy.

12:45 she tells me to get of the bus. i was previously told it was a 0.5km walk to the train station from the bus stop. they said i can walk or take a cab, so when i get to the bus station i ask how to get to the train station by foot. the lady points outside and says "there, flowers, taxi". i look outside and see there is a taxi station next to the flowers outside. i ask how to walk there. she points outside and says "there, flowers, taxi". i walk over to the restaurant and ask a guy there how to get to the train and he says "you have to get to corinth". i say "wait a minuete, where am i?"... apparently, i am 6km and 10 min. from the correct bus stop. excelent. so now i go there, pass the flowers and get in a taxi, who charges 4 euro for the ride and drops me off at the correct train station.

13:00 i go to get a ticket to patra, where the ferry i want, the only one for the day, leaves at 18:00. i ask for a ticket. he says the line has a little problam today, maybe you can take a bus to the next station and get the train from there. i am about to cry-i explain m journey so far. he says, my problam, not your problam, stay here, 13:30 it will be ok. i think "huh?" but say "ok". i wait. at 13:25 i ask him what exactly is supposed to be ok?! he says he will take me. someone outside explains there is a bus they got from the 2 train stations in corinth to take people to the next station. he doesn't know how to explain so he prints me a ticket the leaves from the next station at 14:08

13:50 i am thinking myself crazy at this point, and then the bus arrives. i get on.

14:08 i am still on the bus, with about a million other people, squeezed in. the bus takes every side street and stops everywhere.

14:50 we get to a place that doesn't even look like a train station. i think they just stopped the train in the middle of the tracks. we get off the bus, go down into the train tracks and cross them and enter the train.

17:30 we arive at the port. i get a ticket for the ferry. surprisengly, i have no problam with this.

18:00 the ferry leaves (wouldn't it just fit perfectly if i said something along the lines of-and i watched it go? no-i was on board, thank god!)

09:00 we get to italy!!!! only here it's 10:00...

10:15 i get on a train that is supposed to take me to naples with a switch in toranto.

11:50 i get to toranto and realise switching means they have switched me to a bus!

17:00 i get to naples. now i go to buy a ticket to sorrento, where i want to spend the night. i get a tickt, but it's like a subway so the ticket doesn't tell you times or where to go. the guy at the desk says it's no problam, the train leaves every 10 minuets. i ask 4 people directions before i find out where the train will come. i call a hotel in sorrento and resurve a room

17:50 the train finally arives. it turnes out 10 min. meens 50.

19:00 i get to the sorrento train station and find my hotel. they give me a room with a shower for the price of a room without one. i am happy, but hungry

20:00 i find a pizzaria, i plan to eat my first pizza in italy. on the way to the table i want that overlooks the sidewalk and the people watching oppertunities in the pizzaria i stumble on a stair and (fall, break my neck and die. well, obviausly not but it would fitt, right? anyway) i fall and hurt my leg. ): for those of you who know-same leg, same place as in the tarabin before i left... unlucky leg! about 5 waiters come to help me, two pick me up, one gets me water, one fixes a table for me and one asks me if i am ok. oh, and everybody in the place looks at me.. i also hear them talking about me. i am not making this up! one of the couples who talked about me ended up coming up to me at the end and asked me where i was from.. i heard her say before i'm probably american or something like that.. they asked if my parents were worried about me. i said they trust me and a lot of people travel alone. anyway, great way to start italy.. BUT the pizza was really good!!!!!!!!!

PS   i can't add pics in this computer so look back on this entry later and i will probably have added pictures..